Circular loom



Sept. 4, 1928. 1,683,385

0. A. FREDERICKSON C I RCULAR LOOM Original Filed March 1924' 4Sheets-Sheet l lNVENTOR Ma. BY

ATTOR/VE Y Sept. 4, 1928.

O. A. FREDERICKSON -Origina1 Filed March 5, 1924 llmlm CIRCULAR LOOM 4Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 192 1,683,385

0. A. FREDERICKSON C IRCULAR LOOM Original Filed March 1924 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 4, 1928.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OT TO A. FREDERICKSON, OF WE THERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEWIRE- MOLD COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORIEORATION OF CONNIECTICU'IP.

qIRoULAn LOOM.

Application filed March 3, 1924, Serial No. 696,458.

This invention relatesto circular looms, and more particularly to thetype in which the shuttletravels in a horizontal plane.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide, a strongand serviceable circular loom that may be operated at, high speed with aminimum amount of vibration. The circular looms provided heretofore havebeen open to the objection that they vibrate excessively when operatedat high speed and the present invention contemplates a strong compactloom construction which is practi- Cally free from vibration.

In circular looms of the type to which the present invention relates one'or more shuttles are supported to travel about a circular raceway, andan important feature of the presentinvention resides in wear plates uponthe shuttles that engage the race-way and which are adj ustably securedto the shuttles so that they may be adjusted to take up wear.

Heretofore circular looms have been provided with a warp ring whichsupports the inner portion of the shuttle, and another feature of thepresent invention resides in means cooperating with the warp ring forpositively maintaining the shuttle 1n place so that all danger of theshuttle escaping from its path of travel is avoided.

Another feature of the invention resides in means by which the take-upmeans for the woven tube may be operated either by hand or by powerwithout operating the entire loom.

Another-feature of the invention resides in improved means for operatingthe shuttle or shuttles.

Still another feature of the invention resides in electric meanscontrolled by the tension of the weft thread and also by the amount ofweft thread carried by a shuttle, and constructed to stop the loom whenthe weft thread becomes too slack and also when the supply of weftthread carried a shuttle becomes substantially exhausted. Other featuresof the invention and novel combination of parts in addition to the abovew ll be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view thru a i ul 10 m ntru e in a ord nce w th r n inve t m.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view Renewed July 7, 1928.

showing the supportingmeans for the fixed drum.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, on an enlarged scale, is a perspect-ive view of one of theshuttles and the associated parts of the loom.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the under face of theshuttle.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional View thru the shuttle and associatedparts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a, transverse sectional view thru theweft supporting spool of Fig. 5. Fig. 9, on an enlarged scale, is a faceview of a portion of the fixed drum and of several of the heddlesupporting guides.

Fig. 10 is a perspective View showing a heddle and one of the heddleguides in disassembled relation.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 1111 of Fig. 1,and;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of electrical means for stopping the loom,the electrical connections being shown diagrammatically.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings thesupporting frame of the circular loo n is provided with legs 10 whichare bolted or otherwise secured to a lower ring 11 having spokes orinwardly ex tending arms 12 which support a hub 13. In

the construction shown the legs 10 are secured to a laterally extendingflan e 14 of the ring 11, and secured to the upper ace of this flangeand extending upwardly therefrom are posts 15, four being shown in thepresent case.

These posts are provided near their upper end with outwardly extendingbrackets 16 which support an upper ring 17. The posts 15 are alsoprovided H brackets 18 which support the fixed drum ing hollow post orshaft- 21 and rotatably mounted upon this post is the cam drum 22. Thecam drum 22 is supported by a hub 23 connected to the drum by thelaterally extending web 24 disposed at the upper portion of the drum 22.The hub 23 rests upon a roller bearing 25 and a bearing surface isprovided between the hub 23 and fixedshaft 21 at the a si e 9? said.hub: Th ev e 2.

is provided with the cam slots 26, each of which extends part way aroundthe upper portion of the cam drum and then extends downwardly along aninclined path and ex tends part way around the lower portion of the camdrum in a well known manner, and as will be apparent from Fig. 1. Thelower portion of the cam drum 22 in the construction shown is providedwith a ring gear 27 which is secured to the cam drum by bolts 28 andthis gear and drum are driven by a pinion 29 mounted upon the shaft 30.The shaft 30 is provided with a loose pulley 31 and a fixed pulley 32and the shaft '30 is driven in the usual manner by shifting a drivingbelt from the loose pulley 31 to the fixed pulley 32 to thereby drivethe pinion 29 and cam drum 22 operated thereby.

The fixed drum 19 is provided with a raceway 33, in the present casecomprising an annular slot formed in the inner face of the drum 19 andthe shuttle or shuttles 34 travel in this race-way. The race-way 33serves to support the outer portion of the shuttles 34 and in thepresent case these'shuttles are further supported by a warp ring 35mounted upon a flange plate or head 36 rigidly secured to the upper endof the post 21 by a set screw 37. In the construction shown the warpring 35 is electrically insulated from the head 36 and to this end aring of fibre or other insu lating material 38 is disposed between thering 35 and head 36. The warp ring has an annular slot or recess 39formed in its upper face which is adapted to receive a downwardlyextending shoe 40 secured to the lower face of the shuttle 34. In thepresent case, and as best shown in Fig. 7, the shoe 40 is electricallyinsulated from the shuttle 34 and this is accomplished by providing theshoe with a laterally extending flange 41 disposed at the under face ofthe shuttle and spaced therefrom by insulating material 42. The flange41 is rigidly secured to the shuttle by bolts 43 which bolts areelectrically insulated from the shuttle by fibre or the like 44. In theconstruction shown the shoes 40 are provided with an upwardly extendingportion 45 which extends thru an enlarged slot or opening in theshuttle, as shown in Fig. 5, the arrangement being such that theupwardly extending portion 45 does not touch the metal of the shuttle.In the construction shown each shuttle is provided with two shoes 40supported in spacedrelation to each other, as clearly shown inFig. '5.The arrangement is such that as the shuttles travel around the race-way33 they will be supported by the shoes 40 sliding in the annular grooveor recess 39..

In the embodiment of the invention illus trated the shuttles 34 aredriven by spaced pinions to be described, and eachshuttle is thereforeprovided with a toothed rack 46 secured to the shuttle so that thetoothed por tion of the rack will extend into the race-way 33. It isobviously necessary to provide the shuttle with means that extend intothe raceway to support the shuttle and in the present case Wear platesare provided to this end. A

relatively long wear plate 47 is provided above the rack 46 and twospaced wear plates 48 are provided below the rack. It is desirable thatmeans be provided for adjusting the wear plates upon the shuttle to takeup wear and to this end the plate 47 is secured to ano'outwardlyextending portion 34' of the shuttle by bolts 49 that extend thru slots50, the arrangement being such that the wear plates may be secured uponthe shuttle in any desired position ofadjustment by tightening the bolts49.

It may be desirable to provide means for forcing the wear platesoutwardly upon the shuttle and to this end the wear plate 47 is providedwith adjusting screws 51 which have threaded engagement with posts 52extending upwardly from the shuttle, and each screw may be secured inthe desired position of adjustment by a lock nut 53. The under wearplates 48 are adjustably secured to the shuttle in a similar manner, andas clearly shown in Fig. 6 the wear plates 48 may be adjusted outwardlyby a set screw 54 and these plates may be secured in the desiredposition of adjustment by screws 55. Due to the construction justdescribed the desired adjustment between the shuttles 34 and the raceway33 may be at all times maintained and lubricant may be supplied to thewear plates by one or more oil cups 47, and since the shoes 40 travel inthe annular slot 39 these shoes prevent the shuttles from movinginwardly sufliciently to permit the wear plates 47 and 48 to move out ofthe race-way.

In order to drive the shuttles the rotating cam drum 22 is provided .atits upper end with a ring gear 56 and this ring gear is adapted to drivepinions 57 secured at the lower end of hollow shafts 58, which shaftsare provided at their upper ends with pinions 59 that mesh with theteeth of the rack 46 secured to the shuttles. In the construction shownthe hollow shaft 58 provided with the pinions is rotatably mounted upona sleeve 59' which surrounds a bolt 60 and the sleeves 59 and bolts 60are rigidly supported by vertically extending brackets 61 havinglaterally extending flanges at their opposite ends, which flangesreceive the opposite ends of the bolts 60. The upper flange of thebracket 61 is rigidly secured to the upper face of the fixed drum 19 bybolts 62 and an intermediate portion of the bracket 61 is secured to aflange 63 of the fixed drum by bolts 64. The number of pinions '59provided to drive the shuttles may be varied as desired and in theconstruction shown eight of these pinions are provided, each of which issupported in the manner just described by a bracket 61 1,ess,es5

In the present construction the rack 46 of each shuttle is maderelatively long so that this rack will at all times remain in engagement with at least two pinions 59 and the construction is such thatwhile the rack is moving into engagement with one pinion an intermediateportion will be engaged by a second pinion, while the rear end portionof the rack will be in engagement with a third pinion. The arrangementvof arts whereby a shuttle is always acted upon y at least two drivingpinions is desirable, as this construction tends to steady the action ofthe shuttle and drives the same in a much more satisfactory manner thanwhere only one driving pinion is normally in active engagement with theshuttle rack.

Each shuttle 34 is provided with a source of weft thread supply, in thepresent case comprising a spool 65. The spool is rovided with a centralpin 66, the ends of w ich protrude from the opposite ends of the spooland are rotatably supported in blocks 67 secured to the shuttle. Eachblock 67 is provided with a laterally extending notch adapted to receivethe pin 66 and the pin is held within each notch by a flexible blade 68rigidly secured to the shuttle at 69 and having a head 70 at its outerend which is normally held by the blade in position to close the pinreceiving slot. When it is desired to remove the spool 65 from theshuttle this is readily done by forcing the head 70 downwardlysufiiciently to permit the pin 66 to escape from the supporting slots.

The Weft thread is led from the spool 65 under a guide 71 and then thrua tension device 72 which may consist of two discs yieldin ly held incontact with each other, and the weft thread passes from this tensiondevice to the weaving point. The inner end of each shuttle 34 ispreferably provided with a warp guiding plate 7 3 which is secured tothe shuttle by bolts 74 and the weft thread passes under the warpguiding plate 73.

The warp threads 75 supplied to the circular loom may be drawn from asuitable source of supply and these threads are shown as passing thruguides 76 secured to an intermediate ring 77 fastened to the uprightposts 15. The warp threads pass from the guides 7 6 upwardly to guides78 carried by the upper ring 17 and then pass from these guides thru"ertical slots 79 formed in the wall of the fixed drum 19, and the warpthreads extend from these slots to the weaving point. The loomillustrated is constructed to weave tubular fabric of a relatively smalldiameter such as used' for insulating wire, and in the constructionshown the warp and weft threads are woven about a mandrel or forming bar80 which is supported by a bracket 81 secured to the fixed drum andextending inwardly to the central axis of the machine. The mandrel 80extends downwardly into a ring or form 82 mounted in the upper end ofthe fixed shaft 21 and the Woven fabric passes downwardly in the form ofa tube 83 between the mandrel 80 and ring 82.

During the weaving operation it is neces sary to provide means forraising and lower ing the warp thread 75 so that the shuttles will passalternately over and under these threads, and means to this end in theconstruction shown consists of heddles 84 having blocks 85 at theirlower ends which slide vertically in heddle guides 86. In the presentcase the heddle guides are constructed in the form of independentcastings which are rigidly secured to a su porting ring 87 by bolts 88,and each hed le guide is pro vided with spaced ears 89 adapted to engagethe upper and lower faces of the ring 87 which ring is supported by theposts 15 to which it is secured by bolts 90. The construetion of theheddle guides just described is desirable because it permits any heddleguide to be removed when desired, for renewal or other purposes, withoutdisturbing the position of the other heddle guides. In order to impartreciprocal movement to the heddles each is provided with a shoe 91secured to the block 85 by a pin 92 and adapted to slide in one of thecam slots 26. In most cases the arrangement will be such that while oneheddle is in its uppermost position the next adjacent heddle will be inits lowermost position and this is accomplished by mounting the shoes 91of the heddles alternately in one groove 26 or the other, and eachheddle will be held in its uppermost position during part of onecomplete rotation of the cam drum 22 and then Will pass downwardly alongthe inclined portion of the slot 26 to remain in its lowermost positionduring a short interval of time, it being understood that the movementimparted to the heddles is so timed that the warp threads at all timesclear the traveling shuttles. Since the shuttlespass over the warpthreads that are depressed, notches are formed in the warp ring 35 toreceive these warp threads so that they will not be injured by the shoes40 of the shuttles sliding in the recess formed in the upper face ofthis ring. As stated the shoes 40 cooperate with the annular groove ofthe warp ring 35 to prevent the shuttles from moving inwardlysufliciently to disengage the wear plates from the race-way 33. It isdesirable to provide means for preventing the shuttles from liftingupwardly sufficiently to disengage the shoes 40 from the annular recessin which they travel, and to this end a rin 93 is provided which issupported from tie bracket 81 by arms 94 and this ring is held in spacedrelation to the upwardly extending ortions 45 of the shoes 40. Theposition of he ring 93 is such that it is normally out of engagementwith the portions 45 but prevents the shoes from til escaping from theannular groove in which they travel. The ring 93 serves also as a warpthread depressor to depress the warp threads extending from the upperportion of the slots 79 to the weaving point as will be apparent fromFigs. 1 and 7.

As the tube 83 is woven it passes downwardly thru the hollow shaft 21and passes several times about the grooved take-up drum,95 which issecured to a horizontally extending shaft 96 having one end journaled ina downwardly extending bracket 97 and its opposite end rotatablysupported by a bracket 98 fastened to the hub 13. Provision is made fordriving the take-up drum from the shaft and to this end the shaft 30 isprovided with a worm 99 which drives a worm gear 100 secured to theupper end of a vertical shaft 101 and the lower end of the shaft 101 isprovided with a worm 102 which imparts movement to the take-up drum thrua Worm wheel 103 and gears 104 and 105.

In some cases it may be desirable to rotate the take-up drum 95 eitherby hand or by power without driving the entire loom and this isaccomplished by mounting the pinion 29 loosely upon the shaft 30 anddriving movement is imparted to the pinion from the shaft by a slidingpin 106 carried by a disc 107 rigidly secured to the shaft 80, thearrangement being such that the pinion 29 may be released from drivingengagement with the shaft by pulling the pin 106 out, and may be drivenby this shaft by inserting the pin 106. The outer end of the shaft 30 isprovided with a crank 108 by which the entire loom or the take-up alonemay be operated by hand.

It is desirable to provide means for automatically stopping the loom ifa weft thread drawn from the spool 65 becomes too slack and electricalmeans to this end will now be described. As above pointed out the shoes40 are insulated from the shuttle to which they are secured and the warpring is insulated from the loom frame. The current for operating theelectrical mechanism to be described is furnished by a battery or othersource of supply 109 (see Fig. 12) and one terminal of this battery orother source of supply is grounded to the loom frame by a wire 110. Theother terminal of the source of supply 109 is connected to one terminalof a solenoid 111 by a wire 112. A second terminal of the solenoid 111is connected to the insulated warp ring 35 by a wire 113 which wire isshown in Fig. 1 as extending from the ring 35 downwardly thru the hollowpost 21 and then along one of the arms 12 of the lower ring to thesolenoid. From the construction just described it will be seen that if acontact is provided between the metal frame of one of the shuttles 34and one of the insulated shoes the electric circuit will be completed toexcite the solenoid 111. A

means forcompleting this electric circuit and controlled by the tensionof the weft thread 65 consists of a sliding pin 114 the rear end ofwhich is adapted to contact with the upwardly extending portion of ashoe 40 and the opposite end of this pin is provided with a hook portionwhich engages the weft thread. The pin 114 is slidably mounted in ablock 115 secured to the shuttle and the pin is urged towards itscontact position by a coiled spring. The arrangement is such that thetension of the weft thread extending from the tension device 72 to theweaving point normally holds the pin 114 out of contact with the element45 but when this tension becomes too slack the pin moves rearwardlyunder the action of its spring and completes the electric circuit.

The loom is stopped by shifting the driving belt from the fixed pulley32 to the loose pulley 31 and the belt is shifted from one pulley to theother by a belt shifter consisting of spaced fingers 116 rigidly securedto a sliding bar 117 which bar is urged in a direction to shift the beltfrom the fixed pulley to the loose pulley by a spring 118.

The belt shifter is moved to the loom driving position by a rocking arm119 rigidly secured to the lower end of a vertical rod 120 and the outerend of the arm 119 is secured to the sliding bar 117, the arrangementbeing such that the rod 120 may be rotated by hand to move the belt fromthe loose to the fixed pulley and to this end the rod 120 is providedwith a handle 121 at its upper end. The belt shifter is held in the loomdriving position by a latch 122 pivotally secured to the arm 119 andadapted to engage a sliding bolt within the solenoid 111. The latch 122is urged toward the solenoid by a spring 123. When the solenoid isexcited by completing the electric circuit the sliding bolt within thesolenoid is retracted to release the latch 122whereuponthebeltshifterismoved in a righthand direction, viewing Fig. 4,to shift the belt to the loose pulley. The wire 110 forming a groundbetween one terminal of the source of electric supply and the loom frameis preferably secured to the contact 124 which is insulated from themachine frame and a flexible blade 125 extending from this contact andresting against the rocking arm 119 completes the circuit between thecontact 124 and loom frame.

It is desirable that the loom be provided with means for stopping thesame, not only when the weft thread becomes too slack, but also when theweft thread upon either spool becomes substantially exhausted. In thepresent case this is accomplished by providing each spool 65 with acontact surface or ring 126 which is electrically connected to thecentral pin 66 of the spool by a screw 127. A contact member 128 issecured to a transversely extending bar 129, the opposite ends 1,ess,sss

of which are supported by blocks 130 formed of fibre or other insulatingmaterial, and the outer end of the contact member 128 rests against theweft thread wound upon the spool and is urged against the same by coiledsprings wound about the bar 129 As long as there is a working supply ofweft thread upon the spool 65 the outer end of the contact member 128 isheld out of electrical contact with the ring 126, but when the weftthread is unwound sufiiciently to uncover this ring the contact member128 engages the same and completes the electric circuit. The circuitbetween the contact member 128 and one or both of the shoes 40 iscompleted by a wire 131 which may extend from the contact member to oneof the bolts 48. A wire 132 preferably is provided extending from asecuring bolt 43 of one shoe to a securing bolt 43 of the other shoe.This is desirable in order to complete the electric circuit thru eithershoe,so that the loom stopping mechanismwill not fail to work if oneofthe shoes should become insulated from the warp ring by dirt or fromother causes. From the electrical construction described it will be seenthat the loom will be brought to rest automaticallyfby the weft threadbecoming substantially exhausted upon either spool and also by the weftthread'on either spool becoming too slack.

It is desirable that means be provided by which the machine attendantmay readily stop the circular loomand in the present case this isaccomplished by providing push buttons 133'and 134 which may be mountedupon the upper ring 17 at opposite sides ofthe loom, so that the loommaybe stopped from either side of the same. The push buttons 133 and 134may be conneeted with the wire 113 by a conductor 135, the arrangementbeing such that the operation of either push button will excite thesolenoid and elfect loom stop-- page in the manner above described.

What is claimed is:

1. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, afixed'drum supported by the frameand having a shuttle race-way formed asa groove in the inner wall of the drum, a warp ring within the drum andpositioned below the inner portion of the shuttle, a shuttle supportedby the Warp ring, means for driving the shuttle, and a wear plateextending radially from the shuttle into the groove of the raceway andadjustably secured to the shuttle for adjustment thereupon to take upwear.

2. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having ashuttle race-way formed at theinner face of the drum, a warp ring within the drum and positioned belowthe inner portion of the shuttle, a shuttlesupportedby the warp ring,means for driting the shuttle, a wear plate extending radially from theshuttle into the raceway, and means for adjusting the wear platerelative to the shuttle to take up wear.

3. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way formed as anannular groove at the inner face of the drum, a shuttle supported totravel about said race-way and having a gear seg ment adjacent therace-way, spaced pinions for operatively engaging the segment to drivethe shuttle, and wear plates supported on the opposite sides of thesegment and extending radially from the shuttle into the annular grooveof the race-way.

4. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way formed as anannular groove at the inner face of the drum, a shuttle, means forsupporting the shuttle to travel about said race-Way, wear platessecured to the opposite faces of the shuttle and extending radiallyoutward into the groove of the race-way, and means for adjusting thewear plates independently to take up wear.

5. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way formed as anannular grooveat the inner face of the drum, a shuttle, means forsupporting the shuttle to travel about said race-way, a wear plateextending radially from the shuttle into the annular groove ofthe'race-way so that its outer curved face slides against the innercurved wall of the groove, means for adjusting the wear plate on theshuttle to take up wear; and means for securing the wear plate indifferent positions of adjustment.

6. A circular loom comprising in combination,.a supporting frame, a drumsupported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way in the form of anannular groove formed in its inner face, a warp ring supported centrallywithin the fixed drum in spaced relation thereto so that it lies underthe inner portion of the shuttle and formed with an up-stand in gannular portion against which a shoe may slide, a shuttle having a shoenear its inner end adapted to slide upon the warp ring against theshouldered portion to prevent the shuttle from moving inward toward theaxis of the loom, a Wear plate extending radially outward from the outerend of the shuttle into said annular groove to hold the shuttle frommoving radially outward, and means for adjustably securing the wearplates to the shuttle to Vary the distance between said shoe and theouter bearing face of the wear plate.

7. A circular loom", comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way disposed in ahorizontal plane, a warp ring within the drum below the inner portion ofthe shuttle and having an annular recess formed in its upper face, ashuttle having a shoe extending downwardly into said recess to slidetherein, means for driving the shuttle, and a wear plate extending fromthe outer portion of the shuttle into engagement with the race-way.

8. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way disposed in ahorizontal plane, a warp ring within the drum below the inner portion ofthe shuttle and having an annular slot formed in its upper face, ashuttle having a shoe extending into said slot to slide therein andadapted to limit movement of the shuttle in a radial direction towardthe axis of the loom, means for driving the shuttle, and a wear plateextending radially from the shuttle into engagement with the race-Wayand constituting a thrust bearing for limiting the outward movement ofthe shuttle.

9. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, meansupon the frame providing a shuttle race-way in the form of an annulargroove, a warp ring over which the inner portion of the shuttle travelsand having an annular slot formed in its upper face, a shuttle havingshoes secured thereto in spaced relation and extending downwardly intosaid slot to slide therein and adapted to limit movement of the shuttleinwardly toward its axis of rotation, means projecting radially from theouter end of the shuttle into said groove of the race-way, and means fordriving the shuttle.

10. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame,means upon the frame providing a shuttle race-way, a shuttle providedwith an arcuate rack, driving pinions disposed in spaced relation aroundthe race-way and positioned to operatively engage said rack to drive theshuttle, and the rack being of sufficient length to be engaged at alltimes by at least two pinions.

11. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, a shuttleprovided with an arcuate rack, driving pinions disposed in spacedrelation around the race-way and positioned to operatively engage saidrack to drive the shuttle, and the rack being of sufficient length tooperatively engage three of said pinions at the instant the rack movesout of engagement with one pinion and into engagement with another.

12. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, afixed drum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, a warpring within the drum, a shuttle supported by the warp ring and racewayand having a rack, a cam drum rotatably mounted below the fixed drum andhaving cam slots and an operating gear, pinions rotated by the operatinggear and positioned to engage said rack and drive the shuttle,

heddles for shifting the warp threads, a fixed ring surrounding the camdrum, separate heddle guides independently secured to said ring andprovided with vertical slide-ways for the heddles, means for rotatingthe cam drum, and shoes within the cam slots and secured to the heddlesto reciprocate them.

13. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, afixed drum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, ashuttle supported to travel around said race-way and having a rack, acam drum rotatably mounted below the fixed drum and having cam slots andan operating gear, pinions rotated by the operating gear and positionedto engage said rack and drive the shuttle, heddles for shifting the warpthreads, a fixed ring surrounding the cam drum, separate heddle guidesindependently secured to said ring and provided with vertical slide-waysfor the heddles, and means extending into the cam slots to reciprocatethe heddles.

14;. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, afixed drum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, ashuttle supported to travel around said race-way, a rotating drum thatdrives the shuttle, take-up means for advancing the woven product, amain shaft for operating the rotating drum and take-up means, powermeans for driving said shaft, hand operated means for rotating theshaft, and means for releasing the rotating drum from the action of saidshaft so that the takeup means may be operated either manually or bypower without operating the rotating drum.

15. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, a warp ringsupported within the drum below the inner end portion of the shuttle andhaving a diameter substantially greater than the diameter of the wovenfabric and having an annular recess formed in its upper face, a shuttlesupported by the warp ring and race-way, a shoe upon the shuttleengaging said recess, driving means for the shuttle, and a depressorring of approximately the same diameter as the warp ring supported overthe shuttle in position to engage the shuttle and prevent the shoe fromrising out of the recess.

16. A circular loom comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, a warp ringsupported within the drum below the inner portion of the shuttle, ashuttle supported by the warp ring and race-way, driving means for theshuttle, and a de pressor ring supported above the warp ring and ofsufficient diameter to lie over a portion of the shuttle that isdisposed a substantial distance from the inner end of the shuttle andadapted to hold the shuttle from moving upwardly out of engagement withthe warp ring.

17. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, adrum supported by the frame and having a shuttle race-way, a warp ringsupported within the drum below the inner portion of the shuttle, ashuttle supported by the Warp ring and race-way, driving means for theshuttle, a shoe extending upward from the shuttle at a substantialdistance from the inner end of the shuttle, and a depressor ringsupported above the warp ring to depress the weft thread and disposedover said shoe to prevent the shuttle from moving upwardly out ofengagement with the warp ring.

18. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting frameprovided with a shuttle race-way, a shuttle supported by the race-way totravel in a circular path about the axis of the circular loom, means fordriving the shuttle, a Weft thread spool adapted to be mounted upon theshuttle and having a supporting shaft the ends of which project from theends of the spool, shaft supporting blocks secured to the shuttle andhaving laterally extending openings to receive the ends of said shaft,and heads yieldingly held in the entrance to said openings to retain theends of the shaft therein and depressable to permit the insertion andremoval of said shaft.

19. A circular loom, comprising in combination, a supporting framehaving a shuttle race-way, means for advancing the shuttle around itsrace-way, a cam drum rotatably supported below the shuttle and havingcam slots, heddles for shifting the warp threads, a fixed ringsurrounding the cam drum, separate heddle guides independently securedto said ring and provided with vertical slideways for the heddles, meansfor rotating the cam drum, and shoes Within the cam slots and secured tothe heddles to reciprocate them.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

OTTO A. FREDERICKSON.

